Temple Design Challenge
In Spring 2015, I attended Temple’s annual Design Challenge at Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. Sponsored by SEPTA, the challenge was focused on reducing car culture in the city and driving more people toward public transportation. Before the actual event, we gathered information from experts in the field and employees at SEPTA. I also visited the Temple regional rail station to speak with the sustainability director and critically examine the station itself. When getting to the event, our assigned team members compared our findings and designed a solution around them. We ended up with an overhaul of the Walnut St. Concourse to include a space for storing and renting bicycles, hoping to marry the strong bike culture and public transportation problem into an elegant solution. Over the seven hour challenge, participants collaborated with one another to prototype ideas with simple materials then present their ideas and prototypes to a panel of judges. This project was important because not only did it draw on all my business analysis skills, but it forced creativity and trust among a group of strangers that were united under one purpose.